by Bramantyo Prijosusilo
With the image of Islam being a bearded bomber who seeks to destroy the USA while he is not indulging in the honor killings of the wayward female members of his family, it is widely believed that Islam does not respect basic human rights. Islamophobes like the Dutchman Geert Wilders scan through the Qur’an and find verses that order the killing of apostates and infidels and the covering up of women to support their views. However a closer examination of the Qur’an and also a wider perspective of Islamic traditions would reveal that although some patriarchal and tribal expressions of Islam disregard human rights this situation is by no means the rule. For many Indonesian Muslims who have for generations experienced the fact that some members of their families might choose other religions, the notion that Islam should be expressed through the curtailing women’s rights and executing apostates is absolutely horrifying.
The valiant Cut Nya’ Dien of the Aceh wars at the end of the 19th century is a famous national heroine and leader of men who was inspired by Islam. The formidable Eni Rukmini Sekarningrat, is a devout Muslim lady who was a frontline fighter in the independence wars against the Dutch in the late 1940s. Currently she is the Grand Mistress of the Panglipur pencak silat martial arts school, with students all over the world. At her 94 years of age she can still throw a young male fighter down with ease. Millions of other Muslim women in Indonesia are the main economic pillars of their families who have the final say in family decisions. These Muslim women are in no way anomalies, nor do they find inspiration from obscure sections of Islamic traditions, for they can look directly to the first mother of Muslims, who was the Prophet Muhammad’s Boss and later beloved wife and confidant, Khadijah.
The tradition of tolerance and gender equality in Indonesian Islam has in the recent years been systematically eroded by puritan and trans-national, well funded, propaganda. However, Islamism is not the only reason why we are seeing a rise in bigotry. Sudden and drastic changes in the economic rhythm of villages, caused by the introduction of genetically modified seeds and agricultural chemicals in fertilizers and pesticides, did not only created widespread unemployment in villages but also killed off many communal ceremonies related to the cycles of life, which traditionally were the vehicles of communal wisdom.
Before the “Green Revolution” in agriculture, the Javanese peasant, for example, would in her or his daily life be exposed to spiritual enlightenment through Islamic traditions, local myth and legends, and the Islamized versions of the Hindu Mahabharata and Ramayana. The Green Revolution, introduced at the beginning of the New Order regime, rendered village traditions connected to the old ways of life unpractical and uneconomic. Currently, most local myths and legends and Hindu epics have been forgotten. So in times of personal crisis the Javanese peasant currently has only Islamic traditions to refer to, and with trans-national Islamist funding and activism taking over many traditionalist mosques all over the country, often the only accessible spiritual guidance comes from Islamist activists.
Rapid industrialization during the New Order, characterized by the mushrooming of factories around big cities, further wrenched people from their cultural roots. It is no coincidence that the brothers who became the Bali bombers grew up in Lamongan, a small town at the edge of the industrial complexes of nearby Gresik, or that they were affiliated to Abu Bakar Ba’asyir’s school in Ngruki, in the industrialized district of Sukoharjo in the outskirts of Solo. Nor is it a coincidence that the bulk of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) thugs are unemployed and marginalized young men from Jakarta.
In areas where traditions are still relatively strong, such as in Yogyakarta, violent Islamism tends not to flourish, even though the headquarters of the Mujahidin Council that inspires the jihad recruitment website is in that city. The ideas and networks of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood which have morphed into the Prosperous Justice Party here, are also strongest amongst the urban educated, especially amongst those who study pure sciences rather than letters, who are alienated from both their deep traditions and the shallow consumerism of the mainstream culture.
Within Islam’s traditions and texts there are strong foundations for developing human rights based cultures than can be perfectly compatible with 21st century values, but trans-national puritanical propaganda gets the upper hand when development uproots communities from their cultures and marginalizes people’s lives. Therefore any comprehensive effort to curb the growth of puritanical Islamism in Indonesia must also address the issue of cultural disenfranchisement brought about by rapid economic development and alien education systems and curriculums that give inadequate attention to local cultures and the universal humanities. We must find elements that exist within our cultures that may be enhanced to produce strategies that will preserve our traditional tolerance and compassion for all Creation.
Gamelan music is one such cultural element that can be explored with the aim of enhancing traditional tolerance. The use of gamelan orchestras to help people with learning difficulties and anti-social tendencies is explored with much more earnest in schools and prisons in the West than it is in Indonesia. Unlike Western musical instruments, the instruments in the gamelan orchestra cannot be played solo, and are not tools of self expression. To play well the gamelan orchestra one does not require musical, technical skills, because it is not possible to hit a false note. The gamelan orchestra is a tool of worship and community building, and to play well social and spiritual skills are more important than musical skills.
Sadly there are currently very few gamelan orchestras in schools and in communities outside of Bali, and when there are accessible orchestras, the method of teaching is reduced to rote learning. This kills the genius of the gamelan orchestra, which when used properly accommodates the young and old, poor and wealthy, intelligent and not so intelligent, in a communal effort to produce harmonious music. With such cultural gems as the gamelan orchestra, violent and bigoted expressions of Islam can only flourish in Indonesia if they are encouraged to.[]
This article is exclusively published by Center for Minority, Gender, and Human Rights.